Ignorant: Adil Rashid (pictured) did not know it was illegal to have sex with a 13-year-old girl

A muslim who raped a 13-year-old girl
he groomed on Facebook has been spared a prison sentence after a judge
heard he went to an Islamic faith school where he was taught that women
are worthless.

Adil Rashid, 18, claimed he was not
aware that it was illegal for him to have sex with the girl because his
education left him ignorant of British law.

Yesterday Judge Michael Stokes handed
Rashid a suspended sentence, saying: ‘Although chronologically 18, it is
quite clear from the reports that you are very naive and immature when
it comes to sexual matters.’

Earlier Nottingham Crown Court heard that
such crimes usually result in a four to seven-year prison sentence.

But the judge said that because Rashid
was ‘passive’ and ‘lacking assertiveness’, sending him to jail might
cause him ‘more damage than good’.

Rashid, from Birmingham, admitted he
had sex with the girl, saying he had been ‘tempted by her’ after they
met online.

They initially exchanged messages on Facebook before sending
texts and chatting on the phone over a two-month period.

They then met up in Nottingham, where Rashid had booked a room at a Premier Inn.

The girl told police they stayed at
the hotel for two hours and had sex after Rashid went to the bathroom
and emerged wearing a condom.

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Rashid then returned home and went
straight to a mosque to pray. He was arrested the following week after
the girl confessed what had happened to a school friend, who informed
one of her teachers.

He told police he knew the girl was 13 but said he was initially reluctant to have sex before relenting after being seduced.

Encounter: Rashid and the girl had met randomly on Facebook and had also communicated by phone and text messages for two months before they met

Earlier the court heard how Rashid had
‘little experience of women’ due to his education at an Islamic school
in the UK, which cannot be named for legal reasons.

After his arrest, he told a
psychologist that he did not know having sex with a 13-year-old was
against the law. The court heard he found it was illegal only when he
was informed by a family member.

In other interviews with
psychologists, Rashid claimed he had been taught in his school that
‘women are no more worthy than a lollipop that has been dropped on the
ground’.

When Judge Stokes said Rashid ‘must
have known it was illegal, unless he was going round with his eyes
shut’, defence lawyer Laban Leake said reports suggested Rashid had a
‘degree of sexual naivety’.

‘The school he attended, it is not
going too far to say, can be described as a closed community and on this
occasion this was perpetuated by his home life.

Rashid had pre-booked a family room at the Premier Hotel in Goldsmith Street, Nottingham where he took his victim

Sentenced: Rashid admitted at Nottingham Crown Court (pictured) that he had sex with a 13-year-old after she 'tempted' him

‘It is not too far to say that he may
not have known that having sex with a 13-year-old girl was illegal.’
Judge Stokes sentenced Rashid to nine months youth custody, suspended
for two years, along with a two-year probation supervision order.

Describing Rashid, the judge said:
‘He’s had an unusual education, certainly in terms of the sexual
education provided. Comparing women to lollipops is a very curious way
of teaching young men about sex.’

But he said that Rashid knew what he was doing was wrong.

‘It was made clear to you at the
school you attended that having sexual relations with a woman before
marriage was contrary to the precepts of Islam,’ he said.

Addressing Rashid, the judge said: ‘I
accept this was a case where the girl was quite willing to have sexual
activity with you. But the law is there to protect young girls, even
though they are perfectly happy to engage in sexual activity.’